A fall cleanup, planting a rain garden, and a tour of Pulaski Park are featured activities during Pulaski Park Cleanup, a day of community revitalization, Saturday, Oct, 18, from 9 a.m. to noon. Event organizers invite people of all ages and abilities to participate. Gloves and other cleanup supplies will be provided. Pulaski Park is located at 2677 S. 16th St.

Partners in the revitalization project are the Milwaukee County Parks, City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works, Sixteenth Street Community Health Center, KK River Neighbors in Action, Urban Ecology Center, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Southside Organizing Committee, Groundwork Milwaukee and Milwaukee Christian Center.

Staff from the partner organizations will assist participants in the day’s activities and will be available for questions. A representative from Marek, the business that constructed the rain garden in Pulaski Park, will also be available to answer questions. Park tours led by Milwaukee County Parks and Urban Ecology Center staff will depart about every half hour. Tours, in English and Spanish, will showcase the unique features of the park and explain the role of green space in the urban environment. Tours will start at the park pavilion.

Pulaski Park Cleanup is part of a larger initiative to help residents learn about flooding in the Kinnickinnic River Neighborhood, small projects they can implement at home, and how they can play a role in supporting green infrastructure as an opportunity for revitalization of the neighborhood.

Residents are already implementing stormwater management practices. Over 100 property owners in the area have taken steps to reduce water runoff from their properties. Some of these residents have learned to see rainwater runoff as a resource and have installed rain barrels. Others reduce the amount of water entering the sewer system by creating rain gardens or planting native vegetation such as trees and shrubs.

To address the flooding on a large scale, MMSD’s Kinnickinnic River Flood Management Project is purchasing properties along the river, will widen the river channel, and will remove the concrete lining for greater infiltration. The project is slated for completion in 2020. For more about the project, visit mmsd.com/floodmanagement/Kinnickinnic-River.aspx.

For more about Pulaski Park Cleanup, call (414) 257-PARK (7275)